IS428 2017 18T1 Group02 Proposal

Project Group

Team

Proposal

Poster

Application

Research Paper

Version 1

Version 2

PROBLEM & MOTIVATION

The main motivation for this project was the fact that current applications which attempt to help users make a better decision about their future home are very superficial. It looks cool and interactive but it does not really help a person make a better choice on which house is a good investment. The reason why we say this is because we have always heard the old saying, you should buy a house at a good location, but what exactly is a good location? An article taken from HOME&DÉCOR, a website which specialized in information related to homes gave a very detailed list of steps on the information a person should look for before making a purchase of a new home? Everyone talks about it, but no one has actually properly visualized it and attempted to make it easier for people to understand this pricing factor known as its location. Thus, we sought to find a dataset which can help us create visualization which would help us achieve the goal of helping users make a better decision on which house they should get. Unfortunately, most datasets are not useful in providing us with any insights unless a good amount of data cleaning and wrangling is done. For example, transaction data taken from data.gov.sg only gives you the block number and road name with no postal code. How is that useful? Therefore, one of our primary goals is to come up with a visualization which would provide users with a good visual representation about the resale market in Singapore and give people access to a better data set than the ones currently out there. On top of that, we want to create an easy-to-use visualization tool that can help people analyze the historical flat data so that users can see which flats in Singapore would be the most value for money so that users can actually buy a home which is worth its investment. We also felt that it would be interesting to explore the patterns in the resale flat prices and see what factors really affect the prices of HDBs and find out how much of a premium people attach to amenities such as proximity to public transport, age of the lease, schools and etc...

OBJECTIVES

In this project, we are interested to create a visualisation that helps users gain the following insights:

1. Which areas are under-valued and worth investing in.
2. How much have housing prices grown since the last recession in 2008 till now.
3. Which flat types are the most active in the resale market and which types are a better for investment purposes.

By using our visualisation, we will be able to give users a better idea of the pricing situation of the resale HDBs so that people can make better decisions in the HDB which they want to choose to call their home.

SELECTED DATASET

In our analysis, we will only be using data within the year of 1990 - 2017. The rationale for the range of data selected is as follows:

The dataset for analysis will be retrieved from multiple databases, as elaborated below:

Dataset/Source	Data Attributes	Rationale Of Usage
Resales flat prices from Mar 2012 onwards (https://data.gov.sg/dataset/resale-flat-prices?resource_id=83b2fc37-ce8c-4df4-968b-370fd818138b ) Resales flat prices from 2002 - Feb 2012 (https://data.gov.sg/dataset/resale-flat-prices?resource_id=8c00bf08-9124-479e-aeca-7cc411d884c4 ) Resales flat prices from 1990 - 1999 (https://data.gov.sg/dataset/resale-flat-prices?resource_id=adbbddd3-30e2-445f-a123-29bee150a6fe )	Month Town Flat Type Block Street Name Storey Range Floor Area (Sqm) Flat Model Lease Commence Date Resale Price (S$)	This dataset will be used as a main source of information in our analysis to understand the number of HDB around Singapore from 1990 to 1999, 2002 to Feb 2012 and Mar 2012 onwards respectively.
Bus Stop Names and Locations (https://www.mytransport.sg/content/mytransport/home/dataMall.html#)	Bus Stop Number Bus Stop Roof Number Bus Stop Name X Y Latitude Longitude	This dataset aims to complement the main dataset by providing detailed information about the latitude and longitude of the bus stops located around HDB. We use a javascript geocoding script to convert all the X and Y coordinates to EPSG:4326 latitude and longitude coordinates.
Mrt Stations Names and Locations (https://www.mytransport.sg/content/mytransport/home/dataMall.html#)	MRT Station Number MRT Station Name X Y Latitude Longitude	This dataset aims to complement the main dataset by providing detailed information about the latitude and longitude of the MRT stations located around HDB. We use a javascript geocoding script to convert all the X and Y coordinates to EPSG:4326 latitude and longitude coordinates
Master Plan Subzone Boundary Names and GeoPolygon (https://data.gov.sg/dataset/master-plan-2014-subzone-boundary-no-sea)	Polygon Name Subzone Number Subzone Code Region Name Area Code Area Indicator	This dataset aims to complement the main dataset by providing detailed information about all the subzone in Singapore. We use a javascript library toGeoJson.js to help us convert .KML file to .GeoJson file

BACKGROUND SURVEY OF RELATED WORKS

There are many charts and visualisations available which illustrates the various trends of house prices and index. We have selected a few of these to study and learn before we begin developing our own visualizations.

Related Works	What We Can Learn
An Analysis of the trend and correlation between resale prices and flat production Source: http://www.teoalida.com/singapore/hdbprices/	The use of 2 different chart types with a secondary axis is effective in illustrating the correlation between resale prices and flat production. The colours used are striking and contrast well with each other. There are dips in both variables which are not explained in the infographic itself (E.g. 1997 Asian crisis, 2003 SARs outbreak). This events could be incorporated into the charts to make it more informative. However, major events are not shown in the chart itself. This makes it difficult for the audience to understand the various changes throughout the years. It would be much clearer if events were annotated directly on the charts.
An interactive heatmap of Singapore’s house prices in various districts Source: https://www.srx.com.sg/heat-map	This heatmap uses colours appropriately so that the house prices of each district can be identified intuitively (Red means expensive, blue means cheap, orange means mid-range) The use of filters allows user to find out more about the price distribution of each house type easily. When user mouseover a district on the heatmap, the corresponding district on the legend is highlighted. This improves usability as users do not have to match district numbers manually. Even though the colours are intuitive, it could still be confusing as audience might still have to constantly refer back to the colour scale to interpret the colours. Colour intensity of a single colour could be used instead of to illustrate the difference in prices.
An interactive visualization of house prices along MRT stations Source: https://www.srx.com.sg/mrt-home-prices/property-listings-near-east-west-line	This visualization makes use of unique ways to illustrate the relation between nearby facilities and house prices. Thus in a glance, a person can tell where are the expensive areas based on the MRT stations. The separating of the various MRT lines using filters at the top prevent too much information from being shown in one page However, this chart could be too high level and general. Illustrating this on the Singapore map would be more useful instead, where each house's proximity to the MRT station and their respective resale price is shown. Also, in order to drill down, you would have to navigate to another page and then search for a specific house based on a table view which does not help one visualize where the resale flat is actually located at.
Four Ways to Slice Obama’s 2013 Budget Proposal Source: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/02/13/us/politics/2013-budget-proposal-graphic.html	This visualization makes use of unique ways to illustrate Obama's Budget Proposal The various circles denote the various types of proposed budget items and the circles are sized based on the proposed budget amount. Users can toggle the links to slice and dice the initial visualization into different views so that a user can get different insights from the same initial visualization. This chart is very interesting and it is something that we wanted to use to present the changes in resale prices based on different flat types. If we have the time, we could do different filters as well but for now, we will try doing it for flat-type.
OneMap Visualization of resale flat prices Source: https://www.onemap.sg/main/v2/propertyquery	This is a screenshot of an implementation of a interactive map by OneMap which allows users to search for resale flats on the map and view information related to the selected flat easily. We found this very good as it was very informative if you only wanted to look at one flat. However, the map looks very ugly and out-dated in terms of style and coloring and this map does not allow one to easily do comparisons between flats.

PROPOSED STORYBOARD

Proposed Layout	How Analyst Can Conduct Analysis
	Introduce analysts to the topic of HDB Resale Price and the objectives of the visualization project Upon clicking "Find your Dream Home", analysts will then begin their process of exploration
	The purpose of this visualization is to provide users with an interactive map of the resale flat information from 2008 until 2017. It starts with a overview of Singapore overlayed with a heat map based on the resale prices of the various HDBs. From here, hot spots would be a tell-tale sign to users that the area is overpriced and very expensive while cooler areas would denote that the prices around those areas are relatively lower. The prices are compared using price per square metre (psm) so that comparisons can be done on the same scale. When a user selects a sub-zone, he will zoom in onto that segment and he will be able to look at the various HDBs in that area as well as all the other amenities which are nearby such as the bus-stops and the MRT stations. Selected a HDB on the map will allow a user to see all the information related to the HDB. Users can also add various HDBs onto the radar chart so that the user can easily compare many HDBs against one another before making any decisions. This will allow them to make quick comparisons very easily.
	This visualization aims to give users an idea of how much have the prices of resale flats grown since the last economic downturn which was in 2008 due to Global Financial Crisis to July 2017. From the overall view, a user is also able to change the grouping from an overall view into a detailed view using the toggle on the top left of the screen. Once it is toggled, the bubbles will be spread into its corresponding flat type charts and be re displayed accordingly. This is very useful in giving users a quick glimpse of where the majority of the action is happening in the resale market and which flat types have the highest appreciation as compared to other flat types. By looking at both charts, the analyst will then be able to compare and establish possible linkages between the different indicators for HDB over the years. As such, these 2 charts are placed side by side to assist the analyst in their data exploration.

ADDRESSING KEY TECHNICAL CHALLENGES

The following are some of the key technical challenges that we may face throughout the course of the project:

Key Technical Challenges	How We Propose To Resolve
Unfamiliarity of Visualization Tool Usage	Independent Learning on Visualization Tools Peer Learning
Data Cleaning & Transformation	Work together to clean, transform and analyze the data. HDB Data: As postal code, latitude and longitude are not provided which are essential to plotting it on the map. We code a javascript geocoding script to call One Map API to get the postal code, latitude and longitude for each HDB. For cross reference and checking purposes, we use Google Map API to double confirm that the result is correct. MRT & Bus Data: As latitude and longitude are not provided which are essential to plotting it on the map. We code a javascript geocoding script to call Proj4.js to convert X and Y coordinates to to EPSG:4326 latitude and longitude coordinates. Subzone Data: We only have geo-spatial KML file type. We use toGeoJson.js, an Node module library, which is able to allow use to convert KML file to GeoJson file.
Unfamiliarity in Programming using Javascript & D3 Libraries	Attend D3 Programming Workshop Independent Learning on D3 Libraries & Technical Tools Peer Learning
Unfamiliarity in Implementing Interactivity and Animation Tools / Techniques in Visualization App	Develop a Storyboard/Design Flow Assign members to specialize on Interactivity/Animation Techniques

PROJECT TIMELINE

The following shows our project timeline for the completion of this project:

TOOLS / TECHNOLOGIES

The following are some of the tools/technologies that we will be utilizing during the project:

ARCHITECTURE DIAGRAM

REFERENCES

• DrWealth’s infographic (https://www.drwealth.com/singapore-property-prices-along-mrt-lines/)
• Data Gov Database (https://data.gov.sg)
• My Transport.sg by Land Transport Authority (https://www.mytransport.sg/content/mytransport/home/dataMall.html)
• D3.js (https://d3js.org/)
• Examples By Mike Bostock (https://bost.ocks.org/mike/example/)
• Housing Development Board (http://www.hdb.gov.sg/cs/infoweb/residential/buying-a-flat/resale/resale-statistics)
• PROPERTY: Before you buy your dream resale HDB flat. Retrieved November 23, 2017, from http://www.homeanddecor.com.sg/blogs/property-you-buy-your-dream-resale-hdb-flat
• One Map (https://www.onemap.sg/main/v2/)

OUR BRAINSTORMING SESSIONS

The following are some of the proposed storyboard that we designed during our brainstorming sessions:

Our idea was to provide charts which are able to visualise the trends of HDB over the years in Singapore. We decided to split into multiple charts to be able to showcase the information more clearly.

COMMENTS

Feel free to comments, suggestions and feedbacks to help us improve our project! (: